The majority of Brussels residents who do not speak Dutch are motivated to learn the language to get a better job, shows a study by the House of Dutch (Huis van het Nederlands) organisation.
House of Dutch aims to facilitate access to the language in the Brussels-Capital Region, with the survey having been conducted in 2022 among 4,139 people studying Dutch.
Researchers presented a number of propositions, such as 'Learning Dutch is important in Brussels' and 'If I improve my Dutch, I will find a better job.'
"Learning the Dutch language is never really an end in itself, but above all a means to achieve more general goals in life," Patrick Manghelinckx, Director of Huis van het Nederlands, told Belga News Agency.
"It is important that people have a reason for learning Dutch. This way people can persevere longer. Better work is a good motivator."
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Of the respondents, 91% agreed with the first statement, compared to 89% for the second one – a slight decrease compared to 2020, when 91% were driven to learn Dutch to find a better job.
A better future for the children also remains an important goal for the students to learn Dutch.
"However, it remains important that students decide for themselves why they want to learn Dutch. They must be able to take control of their own trajectory and we support them in this," he said.
"We must also offer students the opportunity to continue practising Dutch, for which we work together with the VGC, the various Dutch community centres and the libraries."
